Everyday Heroes: Blessing Center is a blessing that lasts a long time

REDLANDS - A long line of people worked their way through the Redlands Blessing Center on Saturday.

Some very young and some very old, some were there alone. There were couples and there were entire families.

Some needed food. Others needed clothes. Many of them were looking for work, others will ill and were seeking basic medical services.

And others just needed some words of encouragement.

The Blessing Center offers it all at no charge.

"We do this because this is what Jesus did," longtime Blessing Center volunteer Erin Beringson said. "That is the basis of why we are here, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the homeless. This is what we do."

The nonprofit Redlands Blessing Center offers food boxes from Joseph's Storehouse, basic medical and dental services through its New Hope Free Clinic and has a Resource Center that offers job and career advice.

The Blessing Center's database has the names of 5,000 families and 100 new families are being added every week. Thirty new families arrived at the Blessing Center on Saturday.

The Blessing Center's dental office opened in November and has since dealt with 25-30 patients every Thursday. There are 600 names on the dental waiting list.

The volunteers make it all happen, many of them have survived rough times themselves.

"The volunteers here are just one disaster from being in that line," Beringson said. "Just one thing, an illness, whatever. We are all in precarious positions."

Robert Flick is a volunteer and helps run the resource center. He has been with the Blessing Center for four years. Prior to that he was a plumbing service supervisor and his wife was that company's office manager. They were both laid off.

"All of a sudden it all went away," Flick said of losing his job. "My wife brought me here. When I stepped out of the car I knew I was on holy ground instantly."

One of the most visible people at the Blessing Center is Pastor Craig Turley. People seek him out for help of all kinds. On Saturday he sat down with a number of individuals who needed nothing more than to hear some inspirational words.

"I pray a lot, that is all you can do," Turley said. "I am personally invigorated by being around people that have need. I believe the grace of God, like water, flows to the lowest points. When people are at the lowest point of their life, that is when they need the most. Those that need the most should get the most. They are the most special because of that."

Turley said help is given to anyone who walks through the doors. He provided the example of a longtime Redlands Blessing Center visitor, a homeless woman named Carmen. Carmen is 90 years old and doesn't speak much English, she sleeps in a camper shell about a mile away. Carmen has been to the Redlands Blessing Center every week for 14 years.

"I've told people before," Turley said. "If this whole thing was built for Carmen, does God love her enough to build a whole food bank for her? Yes, God loves her that much."